Injury, Brighton Wing Player Fails To Strengthen Japan In The 2023 Asian Cup

Brighton and Hove Albion winger totaling Mitoma failed to strengthen Japan in the 2023 Asian Cup (X/@BHAFC).

JAKARTA - The Japanese national team lost winger, wary Mitoma, ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup. Mitoma suffered an ankle injury while strengthening Brighton and Hove Albion in the 2023/2024 Premier League.

Mitoma is one of the mainstays of Japan playing in Europe. Apart from him, there is Wataru Endo, a Liverpool midfielder who is the captain of Japan.

From Serie A, midfielder Daichi Kamada plays at Lazio. Meanwhile, Takefusa Kubo, a La Masia academy dropout, is now the mainstay of Real Sociedad and is being targeted by Manchester United.

However, Mitoma may not be able to join his colleagues. He will miss the 2023 Asian Cup which will be held in Qatar.

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi stated that Mitoma had an ankle injury in the match against Crystal Palace which ended in a 1-1 draw last weekend.

The injury forced the 26-year-old winger to recover and rest for four or six weeks.

Because the 2023 Asian Cup starts on January 12, 2024, Mitoma, who has played for Brighton 24 times, is confirmed to be absent from strengthening Japan.

"We lost our shot for about six weeks. It could be four, five, or a maximum of six weeks it estimates. I make sure he is absent from strengthening Japan in the 2023 Asian Cup," said De Zerbi, who lost no less than 10 players due to injury.

"This season, we lost many players who were injured. One of them was fire. Some of them were not muscle injuries. Perhaps this is because we have three games every week," he said again.

Brighton had a pretty busy match after qualifying for the Europa League. In fact, The Seagulls still survive in European competition after winning the last 16 tickets.

Mitoma's absence is clearly a blow for Brighton. Moreover, he is a team pillar. Last season, he scored 10 goals and made eight assists.

Mitoma shows consistency with collecting three goals and six assists this season. He is undoubtedly one of Brighton's mainstays.

Japan also suffered losses in the absence of Mitoma. The reason is, the player who has 18 caps is one of the mainstays of breaking into the opponent's goal. He has also scored seven goals for the Japanese national team.

In the 2023 Asian Cup, the Blue Samurai joined in Group D with Indonesia, Vietnam and Iraq. Japan started the fight against Vietnam on January 14, 2024.

A day later Indonesia served Iraq. Indonesia itself met Japan on January 24, 2024.